This invention relates to thermal insulating materials which may be installed during building construction in the manufacture of extreme weather clothing equipment and gear, auto or sea, and air crafts. More particularly, the invention relates to insulating material which minimize heat transfer through conduction by minimizing the cross-sectional area of contact, and minimize heat transfer through convection by evacuating any fluids from the system. Heat insulation utilizing vacuums are well known. However, insulations utilizing vacumms have generally been limited to containers which are relatively rigid. U.S. Pat. No. 3,179,549 which issued Apr. 20, 1965 to Strong, et al., is an example of this type of system. In that patent a panel including spaced wall is employed wherein the space between the walls is filled at least in part with a filler material comprising filaments of glass or materials of similar characteristics, and the filaments are oriented as perfectly as practicable in a plurality of substantially parallel planes being disposed at random in the parallel planes, the disposition of the planes being transverse or normal to the direction of heat flow between the walls. The space between the walls was evacuated and the filler material supported the walls in the desired space relationship against the inwardly acting force of the atmosphere. In another system described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,553, which issued on Feb. 3, 1976 to Rowe, the insulation material is described as having a pair of generally parallel space surface sheets of impervious materials sealed together through thermally insulating material at their free edges. The surface sheets were held together in space relation by a series of transverse pins spaced apart over the area of the surface sheets and the space between the later was evacuated. The edges of the surface sheets are sealed together by means of synthetic foam and the interior is evacuated. This system has the disadvantage that rigid material such as aluminum is used for the surface sheets. Sealing is effectuated by a joinder of dissimilar material which is undesirable for vacuum properties. No means for securing the panels to a wall or method of sizing the panels are disclosed.
The systems of the prior art had the disadvantages of being relatively rigid, heavy, or fragile, while at the same time being difficult to manufacture and relatively expensive. An additional disadvantage is that the seals have been inadequate for the maintenance of a vacuum. These systems are not suited for adaptation for use in different geometries. Rather they have to be custom made for each geometry.